LINQ : Dynamic select

Question

Consider we have this class :

    public  class Data
{
    public string Field1 { get; set; }
    public string Field2 { get; set; }
    public string Field3 { get; set; }
    public string Field4 { get; set; }
    public string Field5 { get; set; }

}

How do I dynamically select for specify columns ? something like this :

  var list = new List<Data>();

  var result= list.Select("Field1,Field2"); // How ?

Is this the only solution => Dynamic LINQ ?
Selected fields are not known at compile time. They would be specified at runtime

Solution 1

You can do this by dynamically creating the lambda you pass to Select:

Func<Data,Data> CreateNewStatement( string fields )
{
    // input parameter "o"
    var xParameter = Expression.Parameter( typeof( Data ), "o" );

    // new statement "new Data()"
    var xNew = Expression.New( typeof( Data ) );

    // create initializers
    var bindings = fields.Split( ',' ).Select( o => o.Trim() )
        .Select( o => {

            // property "Field1"
            var mi = typeof( Data ).GetProperty( o );

            // original value "o.Field1"
            var xOriginal = Expression.Property( xParameter, mi );

            // set value "Field1 = o.Field1"
            return Expression.Bind( mi, xOriginal );
        }
    );

    // initialization "new Data { Field1 = o.Field1, Field2 = o.Field2 }"
    var xInit = Expression.MemberInit( xNew, bindings );

    // expression "o => new Data { Field1 = o.Field1, Field2 = o.Field2 }"
    var lambda = Expression.Lambda<Func<Data,Data>>( xInit, xParameter );

    // compile to Func<Data, Data>
    return lambda.Compile();
}

Then you can use it like this:

var result = list.Select( CreateNewStatement( "Field1, Field2" ) );

Solution 2

In addition for Nicholas Butler and the hint in comment of Matt(that use T for type of input class), I put an improve to Nicholas answer that generate the property of entity dynamically and the function does not need to send field as parameter.

For Use add class as below:

public static class Helpers
{
    public static Func<T, T> DynamicSelectGenerator<T>(string Fields = "")
    {
        string[] EntityFields;
        if (Fields == "")
            // get Properties of the T
            EntityFields = typeof(T).GetProperties().Select(propertyInfo => propertyInfo.Name).ToArray();
        else
            EntityFields = Fields.Split(',');

        // input parameter "o"
        var xParameter = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "o");

        // new statement "new Data()"
        var xNew = Expression.New(typeof(T));

        // create initializers
        var bindings = EntityFields.Select(o => o.Trim())
            .Select(o =>
            {

                // property "Field1"
                var mi = typeof(T).GetProperty(o);

                // original value "o.Field1"
                var xOriginal = Expression.Property(xParameter, mi);

                // set value "Field1 = o.Field1"
                return Expression.Bind(mi, xOriginal);
            }
        );

        // initialization "new Data { Field1 = o.Field1, Field2 = o.Field2 }"
        var xInit = Expression.MemberInit(xNew, bindings);

        // expression "o => new Data { Field1 = o.Field1, Field2 = o.Field2 }"
        var lambda = Expression.Lambda<Func<T, T>>(xInit, xParameter);

        // compile to Func<Data, Data>
        return lambda.Compile();
    }
}

The DynamicSelectGenerator method get entity with type T, this method have optional input parameter Fields that if you want to select special field from entity send as a string such as "Field1, Field2" and if you don't send anything to method, it returns all of the fields of entity, you could use this method as below:

 using (AppDbContext db = new AppDbContext())
            {
                //select "Field1, Field2" from entity
                var result = db.SampleEntity.Select(Helpers.DynamicSelectGenerator<SampleEntity>("Field1, Field2")).ToList();

                //select all field from entity
                var result1 = db.SampleEntity.Select(Helpers.DynamicSelectGenerator<SampleEntity>()).ToList();
            }

(Assume that you have a DbContext with name AppDbContext and the context have an entity with name SampleEntity)

Solution 3

You must use reflection to get and set property value with it's name.

  var result = new List<Data>();
  var data = new Data();
  var type = data.GetType();
  var fieldName = "Something";

  for (var i = 0; i < list.Count; i++)
  {
      foreach (var property in data.GetType().GetProperties())
      {
         if (property.Name == fieldName)
         {
            type.GetProperties().FirstOrDefault(n => n.Name == property.Name).SetValue(data, GetPropValue(list[i], property.Name), null);
            result.Add(data);
         }
      }
  }

And here is GetPropValue() method

public static object GetPropValue(object src, string propName)
{
   return src.GetType().GetProperty(propName).GetValue(src, null);
}

Solution 4

Using Reflection and Expression bulid can do what you say. Example:

var list = new List<Data>();
//bulid a expression tree to create a paramter
ParameterExpression param = Expression.Parameter(typeof(Data), "d");
//bulid expression tree:data.Field1
Expression selector = Expression.Property(param,typeof(Data).GetProperty("Field1"));
Expression pred = Expression.Lambda(selector, param);
//bulid expression tree:Select(d=>d.Field1)
Expression expr = Expression.Call(typeof(Queryable), "Select",
    new Type[] { typeof(Data), typeof(string) },
    Expression.Constant(list.AsQueryable()), pred);
//create dynamic query
IQueryable<string> query = list.AsQueryable().Provider.CreateQuery<string>(expr);
var result=query.ToList();

Solution 5

The OP mentioned Dynamic Linq library, so I'd like to lay out an explanation on its usage.

1. Dynamic Linq Built-In Select

Dynamic Linq has a built-in Select method, which can be used as follows:

var numbers = new List<int> { 1, 2, 3 };
var wrapped = numbers.Select(num => new { Value = num }).ToList();

// the "it" keyword functions as the lambda parameter,
// so essentialy it's like calling: numbers.Select(num => num)
var selectedNumbers = numbers.Select("it"); 

// the following is the equivalent of calling: wrapped.Select(num => num.Value)
var selectedValues = wrapped.Select("Value");

// the following is the equivalent of calling: numbers.Select(num => new { Value = num })
var selectedObjects = numbers.Select("new(it as Value)"); 

foreach (int num in selectedNumbers) Console.WriteLine(num);
foreach (int val in selectedValues) Console.WriteLine(val);
foreach (dynamic obj in selectedObjects) Console.WriteLine(obj.Value);

The Downside

There's somewhat a downside using the built-in Select:

Since it's an IQueryable - not IQueryable<T> - extension method, with IQueryable as its return type, common materialization methods - like ToList or FirstOrDefault - can't be used. This is why the above example uses foreach - it's simply the only convenient way of materializing the results.

So to make things more convenient, let's support these methods.

2. Supporting Select<T> in Dynamic Linq (to enable using ToList and alike)

To support Select<T>, it needs to be added into the Dynamic Linq file. The simple steps for doing that are explained in this answer and in my comment on it.

After doing so, it can be used in the following way:

var numbers = new List<int> { 1, 2, 3 };
var wrapped = numbers.Select(num => new { Value = num }).ToList();

// the following is the equivalent of calling: numbers.Select(num => num).ToList()
var selectedNumbers = numbers.Select<int>("it").ToList(); 

// the following is the equivalent of calling: wrapped.Select(num => num.Value).ToList()
var selectedValues = wrapped.Select<int>("Value").ToList();

// the following is the equivalent of calling: numbers.Select(num => new { Value = num }).ToList()
var selectedObjects = numbers.Select<object>("new(it as Value)").ToList(); 

The Downside

Arguably, this implementation introduces yet another kind of downside: By having to explicitly parameterize the Select<T> call (e.g., having to call Select<int>), we're losing the dynamic nature of the library.

Nevertheless, since we can now call any materialization Linq method, this usage may still be quite useful.

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